born on a blue day by daniel tammet
(I have a backlog of posts started when I was in Taiwan. Here’s one of them.)
I recently [well, I started this a while ago, so more like a month or two ago] finished Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet. It’s a memoir of his life with savant syndrome and Aspergers.
You might recognize him from his appearance on Letterman a few years ago:
I found it pretty interesting. Daniel is one of the people on the autistic spectrum that is most able to describe going on in his brain. For instance, each number has a shape and texture in his head. If he’s multiplying two numbers the shapes/ textures come together to form a new shape and he just says what that new number is based on the shape. Interesting, but not exactly helpful in getting my to do complicated multiplication or sums in my head…
There’s also quite a bit about dealing with Aspergers, unrelated to any special abilities he has. He has problems socializing and with making eye contact and things like that. I do too (though not as extreme), but people seem to just tell me to get over it.
It’s well-written and the reading goes smoothly and quickly (in case you’re concerned about reading a book written by someone who talks about his problems communicating). Overall, it’s an uplifting book, with plenty of hope and overcoming obstacles.
You can also check out another interesting video. He also has blog.